


Odyssey

by FanficAllergy, RoseFyre



Series: Patchwork - 50 Theme Challenge [16]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Reaping, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Headcanon, In Panem AU, Light Angst, Minimalist Writing, No Reaping, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 16:57:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5383241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficAllergy/pseuds/FanficAllergy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseFyre/pseuds/RoseFyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss is never Reaped.  Neither is Prim or Peeta.  This is what happens over the course of the next thirty years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Odyssey

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork.

oOo

 

** Theme:   ** 34:Time

** Words: ** 850

 

oOo

 

Primrose Everdeen is never reaped.  

 

oOo

 

Neither is Peeta Mellark.

 

oOo

 

Three days after Katniss’s last Reaping, Gale Hawthorne proposes marriage.

 

She says no.

 

oOo

 

A month later, she lets Gale kiss her for the first time.  

 

It feels like kissing her brother.

 

oOo

 

Eventually, she learns to tolerate the kisses.

 

oOo

 

Three months later, he asks her to marry him again.

 

She says maybe.

 

She doesn’t love him. 

 

She thinks she’ll grow to love him.

 

She gives him a chance. 

 

oOo

 

A year later, she finally says yes.

 

oOo

 

Three months later, they’re married.  

 

Katniss wears one of her mother’s old dresses.  There isn’t enough money to rent one.  

 

After the ceremony, they move into their Capitol-assigned house in the Seam.

 

It doesn’t feel like home.

 

oOo

 

That night, they toast a loaf of dry bread in their newly laid fire.

 

The bread tastes of ash.

 

She tells herself it’s from the char.

 

She knows it’s a lie.

 

oOo

 

The first time they have sex, Katniss wonders what all the fuss is about.

 

It doesn’t seem worth the effort.

 

oOo

 

Gale works in the mines.  

 

Katniss hunts.

 

Two kids get Reaped.  Many more die of starvation.

 

Time passes.

 

oOo

 

On their one year wedding anniversary, Gale brings up the subject of children.

 

She says no.

 

oOo

 

He tries again in six months.

 

The answer’s the same.

 

oOo

 

They have their first real fight two months later.

 

It’s the same topic: children.

 

She will not give in.

 

Katniss spends the night curled up in her chair by the fire.

 

oOo

 

It becomes a theme.

 

He wants children.  She doesn’t.

 

So long as the Games exist, so long as District Twelve can starve in safety, Katniss refuses to bring a child into the world.  

 

Gale doesn’t understand.

 

“But I love you!” he cries.

 

It’s not reason enough.

 

oOo

 

They go about their lives.

 

Cray retires.

 

Darius is appointed Head Peacekeeper.

 

Nothing changes.

 

oOo

 

Three years into their marriage, Katniss and Gale stop sleeping in the same bed.

 

oOo

 

A year after that, they stop talking.

 

oOo

 

That spring, Katniss moves in with Prim and her new husband.

 

Gale doesn’t even say goodbye.

 

oOo

 

Divorce is illegal in Panem.

 

But everyone knows someone who’s separated.

 

It’s as common as knowing someone who died in the Games. 

 

oOo

 

Life goes on.

 

The baker dies.  

 

His wife remarries.  

 

His oldest son takes over the bakery.

 

His youngest son stays on to help.

 

He likes squirrels.

 

oOo

 

Prim gets pregnant.

 

When Katniss asks her why, Prim answers, “I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”

 

Katniss doesn’t understand.

 

oOo

 

When she holds her nephew in her arms, Katniss gets a glimmer of what she’s missing.

 

But the want isn’t great enough to overcome the fear.

 

It’s not worth the pain.

 

oOo

 

Two years after Katniss leaves, Leevy Hatfield moves in with Gale.

 

oOo

 

She’s pregnant six months later. 

 

oOo

 

Gale’s daughter is born in June.

 

Katniss is happy for him.

 

They speak for the first time in over three years.

 

oOo

 

That autumn, the baker’s youngest son, Peeta, asks her to go for a walk.

 

She says no.

 

oOo

 

A month after that, he invites her to stay for dinner.

 

She shakes her head.

 

oOo

 

Prim asks her why.

 

Katniss doesn’t have an answer.

 

oOo

 

She dreams of him that night.  Of a world where her child could be safe.  

 

It’s a lovely dream.

 

She knows part of it will never come true.

 

oOo

 

A week later, she asks him to watch the sunset with her.

 

The smile on his face is blinding.

 

oOo

 

They kiss for the first time during a snowstorm.

 

Katniss doesn’t feel the cold.

 

oOo

 

His kisses fuel a hunger within her.

 

She thinks she will never be full.

 

oOo

 

He says I love you.

 

She says it back.

 

oOo

 

They make love in the bakery storeroom, surrounded by flour and baking supplies.

 

Katniss finally understands what all the fuss is about.

 

oOo

 

She still doesn’t want children.

 

Peeta understands.

 

oOo

 

Their toasting takes place in autumn.  The bread is dark, rich.  Full of nuts and fruit.

 

It tastes like heaven when he presses a piece against her lips.

 

oOo

 

She moves into the bakery the next day.

 

It smells of home.

 

oOo

 

Katniss hunts.

 

Peeta bakes.

 

The Games continue.

 

oOo

 

Gale’s daughter is Reaped when she’s thirteen.  

 

She dies in the bloodbath.

 

When her body is lowered into the ground, Gale finally understands.

 

oOo

 

Twenty years pass.

 

Katniss has never been so happy.

 

oOo

 

Gale dies in a mine explosion.  

 

Like her father.  

 

Like his father.

 

She still hates the mines. 

 

oOo

 

Katniss grieves for the loss of her legal husband, but his death doesn’t incapacitate her.

 

She gives the family benefits to Leevy.  Katniss hasn’t been Gale’s wife for over twenty five years.

 

oOo

 

On her fiftieth birthday, Katniss dons a rented white dress and officially changes her name to Katniss Mellark.

 

oOo

 

That night, when she and Peeta make love, they both cry tears of joy.

 

“You love me?” he breathes, resting his forehead against hers.

 

“Always.”

  
oOo

**Author's Note:**

> AN:  
> Written: 12/7/15  
> Revised: 12/8/15
> 
> We’ve always wanted to write what would’ve happened with Katniss and Gale if they’d married in Panem, but we wanted to do it extremely minimalist.
> 
> We like Gale. Seriously. We do not hate Gale. But he and Katniss don’t work as a couple without a serious change in circumstances.
> 
> We hope you enjoyed.


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